Newcastle University

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module introduces students to the poetry of the Anglo-Saxons in its original language, thereby allowing them to study the very beginnings of literature in English. Old English poetry covers a wide range of genres, including wisdom literature, religious verse, heroic and elegiac poetry, and innuendo-laden riddles. The module will explore literature that negotiates between the Germanic, heroic, Christian, and quotidian cultures that pervaded the age and were especially relevant to the North of England.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module will focus on three main texts in their original language. It will start by examining the earliest dream poem in English, instrumental in establishing the conventions for describing religious experience, The Dream of the Rood. This will be followed by a deeply moving poem about loss and loneliness, The Wanderer. Finally, the module will examine one of the greatest poems about heroes, monsters, and warfare, Beowulf.

Students will situate these texts in their literary contexts by reading a wider range of other Old English poetry in translation. Students will also develop an understanding of key features of the Old English language, which will enable them to create their own translations of these texts. In doing so, they will have the opportunity to examine and reflect on their own poetic impulses.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of the module, students will:
-Be able to analyse selected Old English texts and their historical and generic contexts
-Be able to show relevant knowledge of Old English literary history, its predominant themes and concerns
-Be aware of different theoretical, conceptual, and contextual approaches to reading a specialised aspect of Old English literature
-Have an awareness of the linguistic, social, and cultural contexts informing this literature
-Have a familiarity with and the ability to apply relevant conceptual and contextual approaches to this body of work

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:
-Analyse passages of Old English literature in their original language
-Translate a selection of Old English texts with the aid of dictionaries, glossaries, and online material
-Assimilate information from a number of sources: literary, historical, critical, theoretical, and manuscript
-Critically compare and contrast different texts and contexts
-Identify and explore issues linked to relevant concerns in the study of a specialised area of Old English Literature
-Read and comprehend in their original language literary works written in early medieval England
-Exercise and develop a sensitivity to verbal creativity

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures introduce students to the contexts of the texts they will study in workshops and seminars, including linguistic and literary background. Workshops provide guidance and support for the translation of the core texts and an opportunity to consider the creative processes involved in producing poetry of this kind. Small group teaching seminars develop the topics of the lectures and enable the practice of skills, namely close textual analysis, critical thinking, literary, oral, written, and interpersonal communication, and the synthesis and presentation of textual material.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The mid-module exam will ask students to choose from a selection of passages of text in Old English, extracted from the core texts, and to write a close commentary on their chosen passage.

The end of module essay will ask students to write a comparative piece comparing at least two different texts.

Offering a mix of modes of assessment (close reading of Old English, comparative/contextual analysis, and a reading of a single text) and ensuring good coverage of the texts on the module, the assessments will focus students upon detailed aspects of the material in terms that connect their ideas with the module’s broader thematic content.

General Notes

N/A